1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to motorized rotary snowblowers, and more particularly to drift cutter attachments that extend up from a rotor housing for use and are retractable to a storage position.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Snowblowers disclosed in the prior art include drift cutting arms fastened to and extending up from the sides of the snowblower housings, but none of these drift cutters are retractable for the purpose of storage.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,498,253 illustrates a snowblower device that has short drift cutter blades extending from the upper edges of the sides of the housing. These blades are removable but not retractable.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,977,695 shows an adjustable drift cutter on a hand snow remover. However, only the length of the drift cutter is adjustable, rather than the entire cutter arm being retractable.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,610,414 shows a rotary snowblower which has a cutter blade that is spring-loaded in a working position and will retract when it hits an obstacle, but this cutter arm is of a different type than the outwardly extending arm of the present invention in that it is integral with a bottom scoop blade and not retractable for storage.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,198,237 shows an oscillating slicer bar that is mounted on side arms and extends across the front of the rotor housing. The arm and base pivot or oscillate up and down as the snowplow moves forward. A plurality of stationary cutters are positioned on the end plates of the rotor housing but they do not retract.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,837,087 shows a bar which can be adjusted lengthwise or removed but does not pivot to a retracted storage position.